#^ 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


ADDRESS 


OF 


S.^'^WATERHOUSE 


(Of  Wasbinston  Universit.r.) 


BEFORE  THE 


First  National  Convention  of  American  (jattlemen, 


ST.  I.01JIS,  NOY£]»IBER  IStli,  1884. 


ST.  LOUIS,  MO.: 
R.  P.  Studley  &  Co.,  Printeks  and  General  Stationeus. 

1885. 


Address  of  Professor  Waterhouse; 


Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  First  National  Convention  of  American 
Cattlemen  : 

Gentlemen: — The  present  number  of  live  stock  in  the  United  States  is 
probably  above  180,000,000,  and  their  appraised  value  more  than  $2,900,000,- 
000. t  If  all  of  these  animals  were  arranged  in  single  file  and  the  average 
space  of  only  four  feet  was  allotted  to  each,  the  unbroken  line  would  extend 
more  than  five  times  around  the  globe.  The  distinctive  interests  which  this 
Convention  represents,  though  narrowed  by  the  exclusion  of  horses,  sheep 
and  swine,  are  still  colossal  in  their  proportions.  The  approximate  number 
of  neat  cattle  in  this  country  is  over  51,000,000,  and  their  worth  exceeds 
$1,260,000,000.$  The  United  States  raise  more  than  one-half  as  many  cattle 
as  all  Europe,  and  the  territory  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  exclusive- 
ly devoted  to  pasturage  is  more  than  double  the  combined  area  of  Germany 
and  France.  The  estimated  extent  of  these  grazing  lands  is  more  than  780,000, 
000  acres.  There  are  potent  reasons  for  believing  that  the  present  bewilder- 
ing vastness  of  our  live  stock  industries  is  destined  to  a  rapid  expansion. 
The  great  interests  of  mankind  are  now  so  closely  inter-related  that  the  effect 
of  an  important  industrial  change  in  any  one  country  is  felt  all  over  the 
world.  Remote  influences  are  powerfully  affecting  the  agricultural  interests 
of  the  United  States.  The  enormous  cereal  products  of  Russia,  India  and 
Australia  are  glutting  the  grain  markets  of  Europe,  and  reducing  the  profits 
of  American  husbandry.  The  rate  of  the  yield  apparently  exceeds  the 
growth  of  the  population,  and  as  the  lowest  cost  of  production  controls  the 
market  prices,  the  tens  of  millions  of  bushels  which  the  cheap  labor  of  for- 
eign countries  is  pouring  into  the  granaries  of  Europe  will  soon  render  the 
cultivation  of  wheat  in  the  United  States  less  profitable  than  other  kinds  of 
business.  Too  many  American  farmers  are  now  engaged  in  this  branch  of 
agriculture.  Compelled  by  the  excess  of  cereal  production  and  by  the  suc- 
cessful rivalry  of  foreign  nations,  they  will  seek  more  lucrative  industries. 
The  reduction  of  the  number  of  cultivators  and  the  change  of  labor  to  more 

*  Delivered  in  response  to  an  invitation  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Cattle- 
men's Convention. 

t  These  are  the  figures  of  a  practical  stock  man,  Col.  R.  D.  Hunter.  The  government  esti- 
mates ol'  the  number  and  value  of  the  live  stock  in  the  Unite<i  States  on  the  first  day  of  January, 
1884,  were  considsrably  smaller  than  the  given  aggregates.  The  statistics  of  the  Agricultural  De- 
partment are,  however,  computed  from  the  returns  of  Assessors.  But  in  schedules  of  property 
submitted  as  a  basis  of  taxation,  the  estimated  values  are  usually  much  less  than  the  real  woith. 
Then,  too,  since  the  date  to  which  the  government  figures  apply,  there  has  been  the  addition  of  a 
year's  increas  to  the  live  stock  of  the  covmtry.  In  view  of  these  considerations,  Col.  Hun- 
ter feels  confident  that  his  statements  instead  of  being  exaggerations,  are  actually  less  than  the 
fact. 

t  Col.  Hunter's  estimates.  h'    S  '^  I  I 


—  2 


remunerative  spheres  of  employment,  would  diminish  the  surphis  of  cereals, 
increase  the^price  of  field  products,  and  enlaro^e*  tile  resources  of  the  nation. 
Doubtless  many  farmers  will  devote  themselves  more  largely  to  the  rearing 
of  stock,  and  feed  their  grain  to  their  herds.  But  no  apprehension  of  pres- 
ent over-production  need  deter  men  from  engaging  in  the  burliness  of  raising 
cattle.  The  wants  of  a  population  rapidly  increasing  by  natural  growth  and 
by  the  influx  of  foreign  immigration  will  require  vast  supplies  of  meat  for 
domestic  consumption.  Then,  too,  the  social  condition  of  the  working  classes 
of  Europe  is  gradually  improving,  and  every  step  of  material  advancement 
enables  the  workingman  to  enrich  his  scanty  diet  with  the  more  frequent  lux- 
ury of  meat.  Animal  food  is  now  seen  once  a  week,  pei  haps  once  a  day,  on 
tables  where  formerly  its  presence  was  almost  unknown.  This  improvement 
in  the  meagre  fare  of  European  laborers  is  creating  a  perceptibly  wider  de- 
mand for  supplies  of  meat.  These  facts  justify  the  prediction  of  a  great  exten- 
sion of  the  live  stock  industries  of  the  United  States,  and  confirm  the  belief  that 
it  will  be  many  years  before  our  product  of  animal  food  exceeds  the  wants 
of  mankind. 

National  interests  deserve  public  consideration.  The  felt  need  of  system- 
atic cooperation  prompted  the  call  of  this  Convention.  You,  gentlemen, 
have  assembled  to  discuss,  in  this  first  congress  of  American  cattlemen,  in- 
terests as  broad  as  our  national  domain.  Great  difficulties  need  adjustment; 
grave  problems  challenge  solution ;  foreign  competition  confronts  your 
progress;  contagious  diseases  impair  your  prosperity;  momentous  ques- 
tions relative  to  transportation,  banking  facilities,  methods  of  management, 
and  the  occupancy  of  large  tracts  of  land,  solicit  attention.  It  will  be  the 
important  duty  of  this  Convention  to  devise  measures  that  will  ensure  the 
greater  security  and  success  of  your  business. 

A  hasty  utterance  of  some  of  the  leading  thoughts  which  this  occasion 
suggests  is  all  that  the  time  allotted  to  a  brief  address  will  permit. 

In  1878,  a  personal  visit  was  paid  to  the  municipal  slaughter-houses  of 
Paris.  Their  extent  and  mural  enclosure  presented  the  image  of  a  walled 
city.  The  French  talent  for  organization  was  conspicuous  in  the  perfection 
of  every  detail.  A  rigid  enforcement  of  sanitary  regulations  ensured  the 
utmost  cleanliness.  Nothing  was  lost.  An  artful  economy  utilized  every 
part  of  the  slaughtered  animals.  There  were  in  the  yards  at  the  time  of  my 
visit  about  8,000  cattle.  They  looked  like  a  herd  of  prize  oxen.  It  seemed 
as  if  animals  intended  for  the  International  Exposition  had  by  some  cruel 
mistake  been  sent  to  the  slaughter-house.  Their  size,  beauty,  and  fatness 
excited  surprise  and  admiration.  Their  great  superiority  to  American 
breeds  could  not  escape  the  most  careless  observation.  But  there  are  econo- 
mies in  the  improvement  of  their  stock  which  American  cattlemen  canno:> 
afford  to  neglect.  Among  all  the  wonderful  achievements  of  man,  few  things 
are  more  usefully  remarkable  than  the  marvelous  changes  which  his  skill  has 
wrought  in  the  qualities  and  forms  of  vegetable  and  animal  life.  In  some 
instances  the  primitive  character  has  been  so  greatly  altered  that  the  results 
seem  more  like  distinct  creations  than  improvements  of  the  original  type. 
The  variety  and  richness  of  flavor  which  intelligent  cultivation  has  imparted 


—  3 


to  fruit  regale  the  human  taste  with  its  most  delicious  luxuries,  and  the 
special  excellencies  which  judicious  selection  has  produced  in  animals  have 
materially  increased  the  usefulness  and  value  of  modern  breeds.  A  wise  ap- 
plication of  the  laws  of  heredity  will  develop  and  perpetuate  the  particular 
qualities  which  the  ranchman  desires  his  herds  to  possess.  The  gaunt  cattle 
which  are  found  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States  are  more  difficult  to  fat- 
ten and  less  valuable  in  the  market  than  those  animals  in  which  scientific 
breeding  has  rendered  a  tendency  to  flesh  hereditary.  The  capital  invested 
in  the  improvement  of  cattle  is  a  profitable  expenditure.  The  higher  prices 
which  the  tender  and  juicy  beef  of  thorough-bi-ed  stock  commands  richly  re- 
wards the  outlay.  Official  reports  assure  our  government  that  the  cattle  of 
Australia  are  superior  to  those  of  the  United  States.  The  stockmen  of  this 
country  ought  not  to  permit  the  inferiority  of  their  cattle  to  increase  the  ad- 
vantages of  foreign  competition,  and  endanger  the  prosperity  of  their  own 
business. 

But  in  the  Southwest,  where  cattle  ranges  are  most  numerous  and 
extensive,  eff'orts  to  improve  the  native  breeds  by  the  introduction  of  blooded 
stock  meet  a  serious  discouragement.  Thorough-bred  cattle  imported  into 
the  infected  regions  are  almost  certain  to  contract  the  Texas  fever.  Stock- 
men, disheartened  by  their  frequent  losses,  hesitate  to  repeat  the  dangerous 
experiment. 

The  foregoing  statement  introduces,  by  relevant  transition,  the  topic  of 
cattle  diseases.  The  subject  is  as  important  as  its  treatment  is  difficult. 
There  can  be  no  ultimate  gain  in  ignoring  the  presence  and  under-rating 
the  danger  of  these  maladies.  Pleuro-pneumonia  and  the  Texas  fever*  from 
time  to  time  decimate  American  herds.  The  only  wise  course  is  to  confront 
the  plagues  and  take  sanitary  measures  to  arrest  their  progress.  It  is  stated 
that  since  1880  the  direct  and  incidental  losses  which  cattle  diseases  have  in- 
flicted upon  Great  Britain  have  averaged  $5,000,000  a  year.  According  to 
the  estimate  of  our  Agricultural  Department,  the  value  of  the  cattle  that  in 
Virginia  alone  are  annually  destroyed  by  disease  is  not  less  than  $200,- 
000.  A  proportionate  loss  throughout  the  United  States  would  reach  an  ag- 
gregate of  many  millions.  The  magnitude  of  the  damage  should  be  the 
measure  of  organized  eff'ort  to  prevent  the  prevalence  of  these  destructive 
contagions.  The  ravages  of  Pleuro-pneumonia  have  thus  far  been  chiefly 
confined  to  the  northeastern  States.  The  malady  has  baffled  the  skill  of  veter- 
inary science.  The  isolation  of  herds  and  the  slaughter  of  the  infected  ani- 
mals seem  to  be  the  only  eflectual  means  of  arresting  the  spread  of  the  dis- 
order. 

The  Texas  fever  perplexes  the  pathologist  with  mysteries  that  elude  ex- 
planation. Facts  which  a  costly  experience  has  made  familiar  to  many  mem- 
bers of  this  body  may  not  be  so  well  known  to  men  unacquainted  with  the 
business  of  grazing.  It  is  surpassingly  strange  that  only  cattle  in  apparently 
perfect  health  ti  ausmit  the  disease,  while  animals  sick  with  the  fever  do  not 
spread  the  contagion.  Cows  dying  of  the  plague  do  not  communicate  the 
disorder  to  their  sucking  calves.  In  uninfected  pastures,  northern  herds, 
though  separated  from  Texas  cattle  only  by  a  wire  fence,  do  not  catch  the  fever- 


—  4  — 


Migration  seems  to  be  an  especial  source  of  dana^er.  Cattle  born  in  the  in- 
fected districts  are  not  usually  liable  to  attack,  but  sometimes  when  healthy 
southern  animals  are  driven  in  the  hot  season  only  a  short  distance  from  their 
native  pastures,  they  fall  victims  to  the  malady.  The  losses  of  stockmen  are 
aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the  contagion  selects  the  most  valuable  animals 
for  destruction.  Fat  cattle  are  peculiarly  subject  to  the  distemper.  The  pes- 
tilence is  most  prevalent  and  fatal  in  the  months  of  July  and  August.  The 
germs  of  disease,  which  may  long  have  lain  inert  in  the  system,  are  devel- 
oped into  deadly  activity  by  the  heats  of  summer. 

These  facts  are  enigmas  for  which  science  has  no  present  solution  to 
offer. 

Meanwhile,  according  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  plague  is 
spreading.  With  insidious  and  aggressive  marches,  it  is  slowly  extending  its 
conquest  over  northern  territory.  It  is  of  paramount  importance  that  efficient 
steps  be  taken  to  resist  its  advance.  On  western  ranches,  the  damage  would 
be  chiefly  restricted  to  the  value  of  the  cattle  that  perish,  but  the  additional 
loss  of  dairy  products  which  the  prevalence  of  the  disease  among  the  milch 
cows  of  the  North  would  involve  must  amount  to  a  startling  aggregate.  But 
the  actual  losses  by  death  are  not  the  onlj^  injury  which  the  presence  of  con- 
tagions in  this  country  inflicts  upon  the  cattle  trade.  The  number  of  beeves 
which  the  United  States  annually  export  to  Great  Britain  is  now  more  than 
154,000  head.  What  influence  the  spread  of  a  pestilence  among  our  herds 
would  have  upon  the  English  demand  for  American  live  stock  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  effect  of  the  recent  European  alarm  upon  the  exportation 
of  American  pork. 

Again,  the  preservation  of  human  health  imperatively  requires  the  pre- 
vention of  diseases  among  cattle.  Motives  of  gain  urge  unscrupulous  men 
to  send  infected  meat  to  market.  The  consumption  of  such  food  cannot  have 
a  salutary  effect  upon  the  public  health.  Commercial  and  sanitary  considera- 
tions of  the  highest  moment  stimulate  science  to  the  solution  of  its  difficult 
problem.  But  though  investigators  have  not  yet  discovered  an  effective  rem- 
edy for  the  diseases  of  cattle,  they  have  made  encouraging  progress.  Never 
before,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  was  so  much  scientific  intelligence  de- 
voted to  the  study  of  contagions.  Whether  the  bacterial  and  bacillic  organisms 
which  French  and  German  inquirers  have  found  are  the  cause  or  conse- 
quence of  disease,  it  will  require  further  investigation  to  determine.  But 
apparently  we  are  upon  the  eve  of  important  discoveries  in  the  pathology  of 
plagues.  In  the  case  of  the  Texas  fever,  all  the  observed  facts  indicate  that 
cattle  contract  the  disorder  not  by  inhaling  tainted  air,  but  by  feeding  upon 
grasses  that  have  been  infected  by  fecal  poison.  Whether  the  disinfection  of 
the  pastures  or  the  inoculation  of  the  herds  will  prove  to  be  the  most  effective 
remedy  only  the  further  researches  of  science  can  decide. 

*  Since  the  necessary  brevity  of  this  paper  does  not  allow  even  an  allusion  to  all  the  numerous 
disorders  that  afflict  American  cattle,  it  deemed  best  to  confine  this  discussion  to  the  two  princi- 
pal maladies.  The  Rinderpest  and  Foot  and  Mouth  disease  which  stand  next  to  Hleuro-pneumo- 
nia  and  the  Texas  fever  in  destructive  importance,  still  delv  human  skill,  and  are  seemingiy  capa- 
ble of  prevention  only  by  the  quarantine  and  slaughter  of  the  plague  smitten  animals.  In  ttiese 
remarks,  the  word  plague  does  not  distinctively  refer  to  the  Rinderpest,  but  is  employed  in  a  gen- 
eral sense  to  denote  any  pestilence  among  cattle. 


—  5  — 


The  United  States  Government  shows  an  active  interest  in  this  matter. 
A  veterinary  division  has  been  established  in  the  Agricultural  Department 
at  "Washington,  and  an  appropriation  of  $150,000  has  been  granted  for  the 
investigation  and  repression  of  cattle  diseases.  Under  the  auspices  of  the 
Government,  veterinary  science  will  actively  seek  to  explore  the  cause  of 
bovine  epidemics  and  to  devise  efficient  means  of  prevention.  The  boundaries 
of  the  infected  districts  will  be  accurately  defined,  and  the  limits  within  which 
it  is  safe  for  herds  to  be  moved  will  be  carefully  ascertained.  The  efficacy  of 
vaccination  and  disinfectants  will  be  exhaustively  tested.  A  critical  study  of 
the  symptoms  of  the  animals  sick  with  the  distemper  and  a  microscopic  exami- 
nation of  the  bodies  of  those  which  have  been  destroyed  by  it  must  eventu- 
ally lead  to  important  disclosures.  The  discovery  of  the  virus  and  the  ability 
to  inoculate  healthy  animals  with  the  germs  of  the  contagion  would  mark 
a  new  era  in  pathological  inquiry,  and  enable  investigators  to  continue  their 
researches  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances. 

With  these  efforts  of  the  Government  the  professors  of  veterinary  science 
in  our  agricultural  colleges  will  heartily  co-operate.  Those  who  are  stationed 
within  the  districts  where  the  epidemics  prevail  will  enjoy  exceptional  ad- 
vantages for  the  prosecution  of  their  investigations.  The  stockmen  themselves 
can  render  a  valuable  service.  They  have  the  best  opportunities  for  notiicng 
the  symptoms  of  the  contagion,  and  they  can  collect  data  which  may  be  of  great 
value  to  the  scientific  pathologist.  No  circumstance  is  too  minute  for  observ- 
ation. A  knowledge  of  facts,  apparently  insignificant,  may  guide  a  skilful 
investigator  to  important  results.  isf^-ictiot^i  db^ ,^. 

The  progress  that  has  recently  been  made  in  the  study  of  contagions  en- 
courages the  hope  that  science  will  soon  discover  some  means  of  destroying 
the  virus,  or  at  least  of  weakening  its  deadly  energy.  But  there  are  measures 
of  whose  immediately  practical  efficacy  there  can  be  no  intelligent  doubt. 
Safety  can  be  insured  by  selecting  the  right  season  for  transportation.  The 
Department  of  Agriculture  assures  stockmen  that  Southern  herds  which  are 
carried  to  market  in  the  months  of  December  and  January  do  not  communi- 
cate the  splenic  fever  to  Northern  cattle.  But,  at  other  seasons  of  the  year, 
animals  which  have  been  transported  from  the  infected  regions  by  rail  are 
very  apt  to  spread  the  contagion  among  cattle  that  graze  upon  the  grounds 
which  have  been  occupied  by  the  Southern  herds.  Experienced  stockmen 
assert  that,  if  Texas  cattle  are  driven  slowly,  they  lose,  before  they  reach  the 
Northern  markets,  the  power  of  difiusing  disease.  Dodge  City  and  Ogal- 
lalla  are  the  great  distributing  points  from  which  the  droves  are  generally 
transported  to  Eastern  cities  by  rail.  The  drive  from  Texas  to  Dodge  City 
varies  from  30  to  90  days,  and  to  Ogallalla  from  60  to  120  days. 

It  is  alleged  that  this  gradual  exposure  to  the  influences  of  a  Northern 
climate  destroys  the  morbid  force  of  the  virus.  But  even  if  this  statement 
should  prove  to  be  unfounded,  there  is  still  another  means  of  safety.  It  is 
apparently  certain  that  Northern  cattle  which  have  been  carefully  excluded 
from  pastures  occupied  by  Southern  herds  are  never  attacked  with  the  Span- 
ish plague.  If  it  were  feasible  to  establish  a  trail  from  South  to  North, 
broad  enough  to  afford  ample  pasturage  for  myriads  of  animals,  and  so 


—  6  — 


strongly  fenced  as  to  prevent  the  access  of  Northern  cattle  to  the  enclosure, 
then  there  would  be  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  a  safe  outlet  for  the  vast  herds 
from  Texas  and  New  Mexico.  Doubtless  the  experience  of  stockmen  will 
submit  an  array  of  facts  that  will  enable  this  Convention  to  judge  of  the  prac- 
ticability of  the  plan. 

If  it  be  true  that  there  is  an  actual  saving  in  preparing  beeves  for  market 
near  the  ranges  on  which  they  were  raised,  then  every  successive  year  will 
exhibit  an  increase  in  the  canning  and  packing  interests  of  Texas.  The 
measure  of  relief  from  this  source  will  be  proportioned  to  the  expansion  of 
the  business.  For  obviously  the  cattle  slaughtered  in  Texas  will  never  infecf 
the  pastures  of  the  North. 

But  the  great  need  of  our  stockmen  is  a  national  cattle  law.  In  Europe 
the  rigorous  enforcement  of  wise  enactments  has  done  much  to  check  the 
spread  of  contagious  diseases.  State  laws  are  apt  to  vary  in  their  require- 
ments, and  these  differences  might  tempt  dishonest  men  to  violate  the  stat- 
utes. But  a  national  law  would  afford  no  excuse  for  evasion.  It  would 
impose  upon  every  State  the  same  duties,  and  everywhere  punish  with  equal 
penalties  an  infraction  of  its  provisions.  It  would  regulate  the  movements  of 
herds,  establish  systems  of  isolation  and  quarantine,  and  authorise  the  pur- 
chase and  slaughter  of  distempered  stock.  It  is  clearly  competent  for  Con- 
gress, by  virtue  of  its  power  to  regulate  Inter-State  commerce,  to  pass  a 
national  law,  and  the  importance  of  such  legislation  to  the  cattle  interests  of 
the  United  States  can  scarcely  be  exaggerated.  The  experience  of  Great 
Britain  attests  the  value  of  such  acts,  and  this  country  may  profitably  imitate 
the  wisdom  of  English  cattle  laws,  and  the  judicious  rigor  with  which  they 
are  enforced. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  these  remarks  to  inspire  alarm.  There  is  no  dis- 
position to  over-rate  our  perils  or  our  losses.  No  contagion  is  now  raging 
among  the  cattle  of  the  United  States.  But  every  year,  in  a  country  where 
there  are  so  many  millions  of  live  stock,  the  losses  by  disease,  though  so 
scattered  as  so  escape  the  public  attention,  reach  a  startling  aggregate.  It 
has  seemed  best  to  confront  the  danger  and  advocate  measures  which  tend  to 
avert-  it. 

Another  peril,  but  of  a  far  less  seiious  nature,  besets  the  cattle  business. 
The  activity  of  foreign  competition  will  enforce  economy  in  every  detail  of 
management.  The  sources  of  English  supplies  will  afford  a  sufficient  range 
of  illustration.  Great  Britain  now  imports  about  $45,000,000  worth  of  meat, 
and  386,000  head  of  cattle.  The  most  active  rivals  for  this  business  are  Den- 
mark, Canada  and  Australasia.  In  the  absence  of  exact  statistics,  reports  of 
doubtful  accuracy  estimate  the  number  of  cattle  in  South  America  at  49,000,- 
000.  Yet  with  all  of  its  myriads  of  herds,  South  America  has  never  been  a 
formidable  rival.  But  the  aggressive  enterprise  of  the  English  race  has  ren- 
dered the  Australian  colonies  dangerous  competitors.  The  facilities  of  steam 
navigation  have  brought  all  parts  of  the  world  into  comparatively  near  neigh- 
borhood. The  colonies  of  Australia  are  now  within  forty  five  days  of  British 
markets,  and  every  year  they  are  exporting  larger  supplies  of  food  to  the 
mother  country.    To  protect  their  meat  from  the  danger  of  the  tropic  climate 


7  — 


to  which  it  is  exposed  on  its  way  to  market,  the  Australian  packers  have 
largely  resorted  to  canning,  and  to  the  novel  device  of  freezing  the  meat.  A 
single  vessel  has,  in  some  instances,  been  freighted  with  10,000  frozen  car- 
casses of  sheep,  and  the  meat,  reaching  its  destination  without  injury,  was 
sold  in  the  markets  of  England  at  rates  which  permitted  a  profitable  competi- 
tion with  beef  from  the  United  States.  It  has  been  officially  stated  that  the  Aus- 
tralian colonies  are  able  to  export  annually  700,000  tons  of  meat.  But  the 
insufficiency  of  their  merchant  marine  to  transport  so  vast  a  freight  has  been 
a  source  of  American  profit.  The  increasing  activity  of  foreign  rivalry  ^H 
exact  from  the  cattlemen  of  this  country  a  careful  observance  of  minute 
economies.  Every  improvement  in  facilities  for  transportation  implies  larger 
profits,  or  a  better  chance  for  successful  competition.  It  is  stated  that  the 
injuries  inflicted  by  branding  and  by  wire  fences  cause  a  serious  depreciation 
in  the  value  of  hides.  It  may  be  possible  to  devise  means  of  identification 
and  enclosure  that  will  obviate  this  loss.  There  are  important  sources  of 
economy  in  an  intelligent  system  of  pasturage  and  protection.  Cattle  that 
feed  on  innutritious  grasses  and  are  exposed  to  all  the  inclemencies  of  the 
weather  are  not  reared  under  the  most  favorable  conditions  for  fattening. 
Flesh  cannot  be  formed  from  food  which  is  expended  in  resisting  cold.  There 
is  a  profit  in  an  enlightened  regard  for  the  comfort  of  cattle.  Shelter  for  the 
countless  herds  of  the  far  West  is  obviously  impracticable,  and  the  vastness 
of  the  ranges  on  which  they  graze  will  prevent  a  general  culture  of  improved 
grasses.  But  further  East,  the  difficulties  are  not  equally  insuperable.  Here 
the  pastures  are  not  too  boundless  for  cultivation,  nor  the  herds  too  large  for 
protection.  The  enormous  numbers  of  live  stock  in  Texas  and  New  Mexico 
have  naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  the  nation,  but  in  1880  almost  ex- 
actly one-half  of  the  cattle  of  the  United  States  was  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Mississippi  river. 

On  the  innumerable  farms  and  plantations  of  this  region  nutritious  and 
rapidly  fattening  grasses  can  be  cultivated,  and  the  bullocks  sheltered  from 
exposure  can  convert  into  flesh  the  food  which  would  otherwise  be  squan- 
dered in  repelling  cold.  It  is  a  pleasant  thought  that  the  merciful  treatment 
of  helpless  brutes  is  rewarded  with  a  generous  recompense.  There  is  econ- 
omy in  kindness. 

It  would  be  instructive  to  exhibit  the  domestic  distribution  and  consump- 
tion of  American  cattle,  but  unfortunately  by  an  inadvertence,  due  to  the 
sudden  illness  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee,  the  invitation 
which  conferred  upon  me  the  distinguished  privilege  of  addressing  this  Con- 
vention, was  delayed  until  it  was  too  late  to  collect  the  requisite  data.  But  a 
single  statement  will  aflTord  a  suggestive  illustration.  According  to  the  esti- 
mate of  the  efficient  statistician  of  our  Agricultural  Bureau,  the  number  of 
cattle  annually  slaughtered  in  the  United  States  is  more  than  6,000,000  head, 
and  their  weight  is  upwards  of  3,000,000,000  pounds.  Of  this  enormous 
aggregate  of  animal  food,  only  comparatively  small  quantities  are  exported 
to  foreign  lands. 

Gentlemen:  You  have  come  together  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States, 
from  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  even  from  the  Eepublic  of  Mexico.    This 


—  8  — 


body  represents  the  cattlemen  of  the  whole  North  American  continent.  Never 
before,  in  the  history  of  mankind,  was  there  a  Convention  of  stockmen  which 
represented  values  of  such  gigantic  magnitude.  The  metropolis  which  you 
have  honored  by  your  presence  welcomes  you  to  its  hospitalities,  attests  by 
the  cordiality  of  its  greetings  its  full  recognition  of  the  vast  importance  of 
your  industrial  interests,  and  earnestly  hopes  that  your  deliberations  may 
effectively  promote  the  material  greatness  of  the  United  States. 


